The Congress on Thursday attacked the AAP, saying while the party has promised to abolish house tax, the Shunglu committee has found that the Delhi government had itself allowed MCDs to impose property tax on unauthorised colonies in 2015.

The AAP is getting its message for the upcoming municipal polls home delivered – with the party claiming to have knocked on the doors of around 24 lakh houses in the national capital since early March.

Carrera today announced that it has signed on Ranveer as the new face of its 2017 campaign in India and the Middle East. The Italian eyewear brand which has gained a somewhat legendary reputation as a celebrity favourite is known for featuring fearless individuals from outside the modelling world to front their campaigns in the past, so it comes as no surprise that it as officially taken notice of Bollywood’s most flamboyant.

7th Pay Commission: Will Narendra Modi government take a final call on Higher Allowances and arrears after MDC Polls

April 6: For last 18 months more than 46 lakh central government employees have been eagerly waiting for their increment of salaries but the committee on higher allowances is yet to take any final call. Earlier there were reports that after assembly elections in five crucial state is over the Narendra Modi government will be in a better position to take a decision on higher allowances under the 7th Pay Commission, where the matter has been stuck completely. But a week ago, Shiv Gopal Mishra, convenor of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) confirmed that the government is not in a position to take a final call on higher allowances due to ongoing MCD Elections in Delhi.

On Thursday a crucial meeting of the allowance committee examining the 7th Pay Commission is likely to be held and some reports suggest that the committee may finalise its views on House Rent Allowance (HRA), NDTV quoted a source. Also, news agency PTI report also confirmed that the HRA part could be finalised by the allowance committee on Thursday.

On March 28, employee representatives had met the Cabinet Secretary seeking an early finalisation of higher allowances report related to the 7th Pay Commission. The Committee on Allowance has also sought comments from the ministries of defence, railways and posts on the treatment of 14 allowances.
The 7th Pay Commission finding had recommended that the central government employees must be paid HRA at the rate of 24 per cent 16 per cent and 8 per cent of the new basic pay, depending upon the cities they live in. The 7CPC had also recommended that the rate of HRA must be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively when Dearness Allowance (DA) crosses 50 per cent. The HRA must be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively when the DA reaches 100 per cent. Also, the employee union had demanded HRA at the rate of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent.

Last year in June the Narendra Modi government had accepted the recommendation made by Justice A Mathur led the committee on a hike in basic pay and pension. But the recommendations related to allowances on were referred to the Ashok Lavasa committee. Overall the 7th Pay Commission had examined a total of 196 existing allowances and had recommended to completely end 51 allowances and subsuming 37 allowances.
Last month, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal had clarified that the allowance committee is now in the process of finalising its report.

Delhi Congress office locked days ahead of MCD elections: Will this seal or unseal Congress fate in polls?

New Delhi: Ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Elections, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office was locked from inside on Wednesday. This happened a day after some angry party workers, unhappy over the ticket distribution, protested at the DPCC office and even ransacked the ground floor of the building. The protesters were believed to be the supporters of Baljit Sinsinwar, who has been denied ticket from Kamla Nagar ward in North Delhi.

Even though the office bearer is downplaying the incident, locks at the DPCC office have a different story to tell. After the Congress failed to open its account in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, it is trying hard to regain the lost ground.

It is to be seen whether these locks will seal the Congress’s fate or unlock its sealed fate in the MCD elections. “The gates are being locked after the protest in the office. The gates will be kept locked for at least next 4-5 days. The protesters created ruckus, broke banners, tore posters,” a security guard said.

The back gate of the DPCC has been locked for quite some time, but what was startling was the lock at the main gate which is believed to be a precautionary measure.

The MCD is being governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the last 10 years and the party is now facing anti-incumbency. After Aam Aadmi Party threw its hat in the ring, it has become a triangular fight in the national capital.

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its first bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2017-18, on Thursday kept its key lending rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent, saying it awaited further macroeconomic data before making changes.

However, the RBI narrowed the policy corridor and hiked the reverse repo rate to six per cent.
“Consequent upon the narrowing of the LAF (liquidity adjustment facility) corridor, the reverse repo rate under the LAF is at 6.0 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate are at 6.50 per cent,” an RBI policy statement said.

“The decision of the MPC is consistent with a neutral stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth,” it added.

THe RBI said risks are evenly balanced around the inflation trajectory at the current juncture. “There are upside risks to the baseline projection,” it said.

Maximum 758 nominations out of total 1,833 filed for 104 wards in South Delhi Municipal Corporation, were rejected in scrutiny.

New Delhi: Nearly 40 per cent of the total 4,605 nominations filed for April 23 elections to the 272 wards of the three municipal corporations have been rejected during scrutiny, Delhi State Election Commission said.

A mechanical engineer from IIT-Delhi, Ashish Kumar, is currently developing hybrid airplanes in the United States of America and wants to sell the same in India for 1,100-km-long regional flights by early 2020s.